Friday, December 30, 2011

As the dying roars of 2011 fade away and the great beast succumbs to extinction like its two thousand plus predecessors, it seems time for a facelift on the ol' Translation. Along with the new look will come a slew of new projects I will be updating you on. Stay tuned for a year of lusty sea shanties, haunting campfire stories, and epic Scottish fairytales. We might even cross paths with a dinosaur or two.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

TheThe Hobbittrailer (is that one too many the's?) came out last night. I'm waiting to see it on the big screen, but my DnD character, the pint-sized rogue Ilmare (who you may remember from posts such as these), says if they wanted a real halfling hero, all they had to do was ask.

Which trailer has you more excited: The Hobbit or The Dark Knight Rises? Or is it one of the myriad of films in the poll to the right?

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Along with this year's BluRay exchange (which I walked away from with a brand new copy of Moon--yesss), the Dandies and I also had our first annual Shirtmas. Shirtmas is exactly what it sounds like a Secret Santa exchange limited exclusively to t-shirts.

I was tasked with finding a shirt for Everett Downing. Ev just had his second kid, so I know he needs a nanny. And the best nanny I know of is the Avengers' personal governess, Squirrel Girl!

For those of you who don't know, Squirrel Girl is the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe, having defeated Doctor Doom, Magneto, and Galactus. Ev's dream is to direct a SG movie starring none other than Toy Story 3's Kristen Schaal, so I drew this Shirtmas card for him. Kristen, if you're out there: Squirrel Girl--think about it!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Being a toymaker has lost its luster since all any kid wants is an iPhone.

This is my contribution to my former student Fernando Brandi's Noodles Challenge. The idea is to do a drawing in the time it would take to nuke a cup-o-noodles (an animator's main source of nutrition). This month's theme is "Your Elf Self". Mine is obviously obsolete and bored since I am so technologically inept.

Friday, December 09, 2011

Santa fills stockings with yummy chocolaty sweets,But the Grinch prefers his packed with nastier treats."What surprise lays in store for little Cindy and Tom...When they get a taste of my green tannenBOMBS!"

As always, everyone is invited to participate in the Chades Challenge. If you have any designs for "Explosive Stockings," let me know and I'll post them below. Otherwise you can join in December 23rd for...

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

I finally broke down and bought an iPad2. This is my first drawing on the contraption, a nur-maid for my friend Nuritzi. It's no replacement for a sketchbook, but it's nice to be able to immediately play around with layers and color.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

I finally found a wedding gift for my friends, Jay and Sue Topolski! You may remember their Hawaiian wedding from a few posts back.

Jay and Sue hosted weekly Game of Thrones parties back when the show was on, so when I saw this Stark-esque chalice at the Dickens Fair (available online from the fine folks at Fellowship Foundry), the wedding gift question was answered.

Of course, I'm one of those people who, whenever they find a cool gift for someone, they have to buy one for themselves. As you can see, Jay if overwhelmed with joy:

Monday, December 05, 2011

It seems I can't get near a dry erase pen without leaving my mark! This whiteboard happens to be at work, on my friend Neil's office wall.

We like to put up a weekly brainteaser to keep the wits sharp. And being how it is a studio of animators, there's usually a cartoon to go along with said brainteaser. This one is an homage to my new favorite Batman actor (sorry, Keaton).